Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Laptops

Don’t call it a netbook. Placing Raon Digital’s featherweight powerhouse up against relative monsters like the Eee PC or MSI Wind leaves you looking at a device that is tiny and fast, but at $879 is woefully overpriced. UMPC Portal was loaned one for perusal and found that it stands on its own, filling the gap (niche of a niche?) between ultra-mobile and ultra-portable. The six-page review was itself “written, edited, and post produced on the Everun Note in the car, bed, sofa and on the desktop.” UMPC Portal rates its battery life as below that of your typical 6-cell netbook (3 hours on average or 2:15 if you can’t live without WiFi), but indicates its dual-core AMD Turion X2 gives it the power to “span ultra mobile and desktop duties” — even serving as a respectable gaming machine, which can’t be said for your average Atom-based portable.

[Thanks, benz145]

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Cellphones

Still no baseband unlock, but if you’ve been dying to feel the marginal improvements of iPhone OS 2.0.2 while still rocking those crazy homebrew apps, the Dev Team has come through again with PwnageTool 2.0.3. A new Windows version of the QuickPwn tool is also out, with a Mac version to follow within the week — you know the drill, if you’re brave enough to update let us know how it goes in comments.

[Thanks, David]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

It’s not the iPhone 3G unlock yet, but at least those of you who held-off from updating your iPhone to the 2.0.1 firmware are about to get a taste of improved stability and snappy keyboarding while early updaters will once again gain access to their jailbroken apps. Or so says the DevTeam who claim that PwnageTool 2.0.2 is “undergoing final checks and will be packaged, signed and should be uploaded within the next few hours, so count on it being released sometime on Thursday.” The update will be provided via a direct link (which we’ll pass along) and over the PwnageTool’s software updater. So block out some time in your calendars, there’s plenty of newbie hackery to be done later on today.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

As some of you already know, updating your iPhone to firmware 2.01 means that you’ve lost access to all your jailbroken apps. That’s pretty much expected and should be rectified by the DevTeam soon enough. What’s notable from an unlocking perspective, however, is that Apple’s 2.01 release also updates the iPhone 3G baseband. This puts iPhone 3G owners in a bit of a quandary: update now via iTunes in desperate hopes of the stability and improved keyboard response we’ve been seeing but do so at the risk not being able to unlock your iPhone 3G in the future (if and when the DevTeam gets around to releasing it for firmware 2.0). A lot can happen in the course of a 2 year (or longer) carrier commitment. According to the DevTeam, you′ll get all the benefits of Apple’s 2.01 update (without the pesky new baseband) just as soon as they can kick out the updated PwnageTool (current version is 2.01) onto the Internets. Decisions, decisions.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

As some of you already know, updating your iPhone to firmware 2.0.1 means that you’ve lost access to all your jailbroken apps. That’s pretty much expected and should be rectified by the DevTeam soon enough. What’s notable from an unlocking perspective, however, is that Apple’s 2.0.1 release also updates the iPhone 3G baseband. This puts iPhone 3G owners in a bit of a quandary: update now via iTunes in desperate hopes of the stability and improved keyboard response we’ve been seeing but do so at the risk of not being able to unlock your iPhone 3G in the future (if and when the DevTeam gets around to releasing it for firmware 2.0). A lot can happen in the course of a 2 year (or longer) carrier commitment. According to the DevTeam, you’ll get all the benefits of Apple’s 2.0.1 update (without the pesky new baseband) just as soon as they can kick out the updated PwnageTool (current version is 2.0.1) onto the Internets. Decisions, decisions.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

If you needed evidence of the popularity of cheap ultraportables in foreign lands, the news leading up to the release of the MSI Wind should be a good indicator. Last month it was a Turkish video of the thing, now it’s a detailed Chilean writeup of a pre-release model. We’re relying on Google Translate to parse out the details here, but from what we can understand the article indicates the keyboard to be “sufficiently comfortable,” the LED-backlit screen impressive, and the performance in XP to be quite good. This despite a glitch that left the Intel Atom processor gimped short of its 1600MHz maximum speed, which will surely (hopefully) rectified before the 10-inch model finds release here next month at $549 with XP and a 6-cell battery, or SuSE flavored (and smaller batteried) for just $399.

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Laptops

It’s been a controversial decision, but it looks like the OLPC XO has completed its transition from revolutionary education project to just another tiny Windows laptop with a useless keyboard — albeit one with a pleasantly whimsical design. Yep, it’s official: Microsoft and OLPC just put out a joint press release saying that XP-loaded XOs will be available starting in August or September, with some countries to get the machines as soon as next month. Users will get all the regular functionality of XP — it’s basically the same build as on the Eee and other ultraportables — but Microsoft’s spent over a year developing specialized drivers for the XO′s various features like e-book mode, the writing pad, and camera. (We’re pretty certain that doesn′t include mesh networking, but WiFi is supported.) XP is too big for the built-in 1GB flash chip, so it’ll come preloaded on a 2GB SD card, leaving just about 1.5GB free total for apps and media. It seems like Microsoft is thrilled about this partnership, but it’s a not going to make NickNeg’s search for new vision at the top any easier. As for Sugar? You’ll still be able to get it, but we have a sinking feeling about its future. Demo video after the break.

Continue reading OLPC XO officially gets Windows XP, children of the world to be assimilated

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Laptops

We know, the vast majority of you either graduated or got past one more wave of exams this past week, but there’s no better time to buy a lappie for school than when you actually have time to enjoy it, right?

“I’m looking to buy a laptop before I head off to college in a few months. I know there’s too many choices out there in each category to ask for specific recommendations, but I’m wondering how current students feel about their machines. Is a subnote potent enough for university use? Is an ultraportable a better alternative? Or should I get a full-blown 15- to 17-incher as an all-purpose rig? My future GPA is hinging on your responses.”

Let’s hear it, bookworms. Is that CloudBook / Eee / 2133 Mini-Note treating you alright? Or would this poor freshman-to-be be better off with something larger? Toss out your opinions below — friends don’t let friends buy the wrong computer. If you’d like our readers to study a question of yours, send us an inquiry at ask at engadget dawt com, capiche?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

We already knew most of the details on the MSI Wind, but the Atom-based ultraportable just got official US pricing and availability today — and just like we hoped, it got a little cheaper on the trip over. Although there’ll be both 8.9-inch and 10-inch versions worldwide, we’re only getting the 10-inch in both XP and Linux flavors, starting June 3rd. The SuSE version will feature that 1.6GHz Atom, 512MB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, and a 3-cell battery rated at 2.5 hours of use for $399, while the XP edition will come in at $549 with 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, and a larger 6-cell battery good for 5.5 hours. There’s also apparently going to be a $500 “base” XP edition, but details on that are pretty sparse at the moment. Looks like ASUS had better get that Atom-based Eee 900 out June as planned if it wants to keep up, eh?

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

We′ve gotten a ton of info on the MSI Wind, but so far pricing details have been a closely-guarded secret. Good thing we’ve got wonder-importers Expansys to help us out, though — they’ve just listed the Wind at the pretty decent price of $610. That’s not bad for a 10-inch screen, 1.6Ghz processor (supposedly an Atom), 1GB of RAM, an 80GB disk and XP, but let’s hope things get even cheaper when this thing hits the US for real.

[Via UMPC Portal]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

Toshiba’s been cranking out a pretty steady stream of laptops since the year began, and it’s making sure no slacking goes on in May. Revealed today, the 13.3-inch Portégé M800 weighs in at 4.3-pounds and will be available with a white pearl finish with silver accents, not to mention the white LEDs within meant to keep things classy. Furthermore, you’ll find a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T5750, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) panel, Intel’s GMA X3100 graphics set, a built-in DVD burner, three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire / VGA / headphone sockets, 802.11a/g/n WiFi, 56k modem, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and Vista Home Premium running the show. Regrettably, there’s no word on price, but you won’t see this one arrive in Europe until ̭, anyway.

[Via Tech Digest, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

It looks like ultraportable laptops are the new generic PMPs, and we couldn’t be happier about it — especially if we keep seeing units like the Yinlips Micro PC YDP-ᰉ here. While the spec list is pretty average — 7-inch screen, 400MHz CPU (we don’t know what kind), WiFi, Linux, 500MB or 1GB flash drive — what’s really getting us is the old-school TI-99 looks. All we need now is a speech synthesizer module and we’ll be all set.

[Via MP4 Nation]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

After giving the new IdeaPad U110 its 15 minutes of fame in front of the camera, we got down to business. The 11.1-inch ultraportable is built like a tank — a really, really lightweight tank. The uniquely-designed lid and (overly) glossy motif is a welcome change for Lenovo, but after a good bit of use, it’s easy to see this one won’t appeal to the masses. Click on for the full rundown of impressions and notes (and a video, too).

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaPad 𔱶 overview and video

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Apparently, Steve Ballmer didn’t just take time to respond to the latest iPhone announcements and give that whole Monkey Boy Dance another go during the Mix ‘08 event. Oh no, he most certainly took the opportunity to address Microsoft’s stance on where it was headed now that the format war has concluded. Granted, it’s not like it ever had much choice here but to pick up the pieces and support the Blu camp, but for those who put a great deal of stock in confirmation, Mr. Ballmer did say that it had “already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like.” He also noted that “Toshiba had moved on” and that it too was moving forward, but unfortunately, he didn’t make a peep about the recently rumored Xbox 360 BD add-on. Still, we’re hoping that one thing will lead to another, if you catch our drift.

[Via Gamespot, thanks rooshma]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Robotic lawn mowers have been keeping yards tidy for their masters for a good while now, but Husqvarna is looking to teach an old robot new tricks with its Automower. As expected, the grass muncher is ultra-quiet and outputs zero emissions, and you can even program it to take off and get to work whenever you please. Reportedly, a fully charged battery can get about 40 minutes of cutting done, and best of all, the unit will automatically return to its charging base to juice back up if the sun isn′t out. Still, with a price tag of around &pound2,000 ($3,971), you may just be better off paying that punk kid down the street to handle your mowing needs.

[Via Pocket-lint, video at Megawhat]

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Original post by Darren Murph